Sunday, 29 March 2015

Thoughts on Physical Training

One of my biggest fears
is the wasting away of my body, and along in that, the wasting of my mind as I
continue to plod along the path in search of the pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow.

We've all heard stories
of fellow schoolmates who were in their prime, the most outstanding and natural
sportsmen during our teenage years. Envied by the boys in the compound for
their sporting abilities and idolized by the girls from the nearby schools for
mainly, their developing bodies (at least on a subconscious level). Well, I've
never been an outstanding model of physicality, and had always been a late
bloomer in that aspect, suffering from bouts of childhood asthma together with
a strong penchant for a "Happy Meal" or "Zinger Burger" on
the bus trips home.

Gradually, I decided
enough was enough and thus started developing my physical fitness, undertaking
certain endurance events through my JC and NS days. Now that I'm more than halfway
there to my goal of financial freedom, I've started to dream of the things I'll
do once I'm done with investment banking, and I realise from past experiences
that I do love pushing the limits of my physical endurance levels, trying out
different events would pit me against myself. Definitely one particular realm
I'll like to focus my attention on would be adventure racing and self
sufficient ultra marathons.

The main takeaway since
beginning my journey into developing myself physically is that with the right
mindset, discipline and plan, you can pretty much undertake any physical
challenge you want to. Go from couch potato to marathoner in 60 days? Drop 30
kg in eight months? Complete a 10km swim
in one continuous attempt? These are all possibilities, as long as the right
plan is in place and there is a strong will to follow through and execute your
plan.

And little did I realise
that was actually a transferable "skillset". You start believing in
yourself and your abilities once you've completed those physical goals that hey
perhaps I can do something like that in the corporate world, or I can actually
retire by 35 with a few million in the bank. You draw strength from your past
victories to keep you moving forward in search of future victories. Your goals might
not always be reached, but hey, shoot for the stars and even if you don't reach
them, you'll at least reach the clouds.

These days, I try to put
in at least 3 HIITs (high intensity interval trainings) that lasts anywhere
from 15 to 30 minutes, together with a run of
6 - 8km over the weekend. I do have a pedometer (think something like
fitbit) and I try to cover about 4 to 5 km through walking daily. Hopefully
that will put me in a good position to embark on my sporting adventures post calling
it a day in the corporate world. And you know what, I actually feel much better
and more effective during the day comparatively to a period where I was just slogging
my guts off at work. I bet my heart and body agrees with that to some extent
too.

Simple habits that
translate into effectiveness in other aspects of life. I think there's a word
to describe that - keystone habits. Maybe lacing up your shoes and heading out
for the run might do more for your life than just generating endorphins.

2 comments:

good share there. i am probably not close to any of your targets but i see that most alpha males perhaps get to where they are because the physical fitness part of them give them an idea how a routine plan helps create small wins for themselves and makes them stick to it, do anything that they want.

I'm probably not what you'll consider as an alpha male. In fact I prefer to think of myself as a lone wolf in search of my own path. I do agree with you on the concept of small wins - physical training is just but one element that provides a controlled measure of pain for personal development